Outlook: The road to the final four isn’t easy for the four-time defending city champion Knights. First off, they won’t have two starters because of an incident in their season-ending forfeit with Lab Museum. Second, MLK will have to deal with a quality opponent in the quarterfinals, either Columbus or Curtis, both of them talented and skilled offensive powerhouses. Sangary, the striker who scored 33 times to lead the city during the regular season, is the leading candidate for Player of the Year honors and can turn a match on a dime, and Traore has emerged as a surprising in net.

This bracket, actually, is an ode to strikers, home to Sangary, Curtis’ Christian Aldaz and Bah of Columbus, all of them having led their respective divisions in goals scored. A Curtis-Columbus second-round showdown could be a shootout; the two sides score in bunches. The Explorers, who won their last nine matches after a slow start, are better in their own end, which could be a difference maker. Joyce Simonson’s Warriors, however, have reached the quarterfinals each of the last two years, like Columbus, so postseason experience won’t be a factor.

The opening-round matchup between New Dorp and Fort Hamilton isn’t just a fight to see who is MLK’s prey, it is, in a way, a referendum on Staten Island vs. Brooklyn soccer. Fort Hamilton shared the Brooklyn A West crown with Sheepshead Bay, yet received the 16th seed while New Dorp, led by junior Emmanuel Toe’s 12 goals, finished third on the Island.

Prediction:No. 1 Martin Luther King Jr. over No. 9 Columbus

Down two starters and shorthanded, King is still the most talented team in the city. Sangary is virtually unstoppable, his combination of speed, skill and patience so dynamic, and he has plenty of help up front in newly converted forward Tarek Beckles and midfielders Bryan Moya and Ibrahim Diaby.

Columbus will push the Knights with its precision passing and splendid athletes in the midfield. It will be the back line that can’t match up with Sangary and Moya. MLK will no doubt be tested here, but Jacobson’s club was pushed during the regular season, too, besting Beacon, the fourth overall seed in the playoffs, twice and facing a handful of nationally ranked programs in non-league play.

Those experiences will allow them to navigate this rough match and return to the semifinals for the 15th straight year.